The Nicodemus enterprise., 1887-09-21
Is it a Piece of a Comet?

AS IL d Hlece of Comet?
From q paper by William Earl Hid
9en: IN the Century, we quote the fol-
loving: There has recently come into
my possession the ninth iron meteorita
whose fall to the earth has been OH
served. 1t is, moreover, the first
meteOrite which seems to evidence 2
direct connection with a star-shower
Inc mass acquires still further inter-
est from the fact that it is presumably
q fragment of the famous comet of
Biela.
Astronomers have waited patiently
1or the fall to the earth's surface. ut
the time of the periodical star-show-
ers, OF something tangible, but until
now they have waited in vain.
In looking over a considerable
amount Of astronomical literature,
only one record can be found of the
falling of body to the earth at such
time; this was near Paris, on the
10th of April, 1904, when "many
shootlng-stars were seen, and very
large one was said to have been found
on the ground as a glowing substance.
From the oath to the 29th of Novem-
Der, 1885, the earth was passing
through train of meteors that pro-
ceeded from the constellation andre
media, and once formed a part of
Blela'S comet. These meteors are now
known to astronomers as Andromedes
or Bielids. The maximum of this
shower occurred on the 9th, while it
was yet broad daylight over America,
and at an hour corresponding to II a.
m. at Mazapil, Mexico. Thus, at the
time of the fall of this meteorite, ten
hours after the maximum number of
meteors was observed, the earth was
meeting with only the stragglers of
the train. 1t cannot be doubted that
the cOsmical dust proceeding from
the disintegration of Biela's Comet
wholly enveloped the earth and was
seen as meteors from every part of
it. Such was the magniticence of the
celestial phenomenon that in some
parts of the Eastern Continent unedu-
Gated people believed there would be
no stars left in the sky.
Of the countless host of meteOrs
which crossed the earth's path on this
9th Of November, only one is as yet
known to have reached the earth's
surface, and this fell near the village of
Mazapil, in the state of Zacatecas,
Mexico, at about nine o'clock in the
evening. 1t is of the rare irOn-nickel
variety, and weighs ten and quarter
pounds troy.
This meteOrite was presented to me
by ST.. Jose A. Bonilla, Director-Pro-
fessor of the Zacatecas Observatory,
who received it, five days after it fell,
from the ranchman who saw it descend
from the heavens. This ranchman re-
lated the strange occurrence as follows
translated from the Spanish):
at was about o'clock on the night of No
vember 9th, when went out to the corral
to feed certain horses; suddenly heard
loud Sizing noise, exactly as though some
thing red-hOt was being plunged into cold wa
ter, and almost instantly there followed a
somewhat loud thud. AT once the corral was
covered with a phosphorescent light, While
suspended in the air were small luminous
| sparks, as from rocket. / had not recOv-
| cred from my surprise before saw this lumin-
| Gus air disappear, and there remained on the
| ground only such a light as is made when
| match is rubbed. A number of people came
running toward me from the neighboring
| houses, and they assisted me in quieting the
horses, which had become very much excited.
We all asked each other what could be the
| matter, and we were afraid to walk in the
| corral for fear of being burned. When, in a
| few moments, we had recovered from our
fright, we saw the light disappear and bring
ing lanterns to look for the cause, we found a
| hole in the ground and in 1t ball OF light.
We retired to a distance, fearing it would eX-
plode and harm us. Looking up to the sky,
we saw from time to time eXhalatiOns or stars,
which soon went out without noise We re-
turned after little, and found in the hole
a hot stone which we could barely ham
die; this on the next day, we saw, looked like
piece Of iron. All night 1t ralned stars, but
we saw none fall to the ground, as they all
seemed to be extinguished while yet very high
up"
Upon further inquiry we learn that
there was no explosion or defamation
heard, and that the mass penetrated
the earth only to depth of twelve
inches.
This very circumstantial account
leads us to believe that this meteCrite
is the first one to be secured and pre-
served that has come to the earth
during star-shower.